Nerdy fundraising campaigns raise hundreds of thousands for Black Lives Matter

While companies across the entertainment industry have recently made donations to Black Lives Matter and other anti-racist causes as global social justice movements continue to protest the police killing of George Floyd, on-the-ground genre fans might not know where to look in order to make a difference with their dollars. Thankfully, professionals from around the world of genre — be they actors, directors, editors, writers, or artists — and fans themselves have put together a variety of fundraising campaigns aimed at those who love horror, sci-fi, and fantasy.

One of the more prominent fundraisers was created by one of comics' most powerful voices, Gail Simone. The Wonder Woman, Birds of Prey, and Batgirl writer organized the #ComicsWriterChallenge, which encourages comics pros to auction off "a piece that has special meaning to you" for Black Lives Matter.

Simone kicked off the challenge herself, putting up a bounty of Wonder Woman content, including "the very last page of George Perez's legendary Wonder Woman work, from right off of my wall." That comes signed by her and Perez, and is just one piece of a number of items, including "a limited, numbered and signed copy of the scripts to the two WONDER WOMAN/STAR BLOSSOM stories" Simone did and "a signed and personalized copy of my Wonder Woman omnibus." That all got a big bonus when Colleen Doran and Perez himself offered to do original pieces of art for the package.

And every cent is going to support the cause. "Whoever buys this will also know that the money went 100 percent to #BlackLivesMatter," Simone wrote in the long thread. She ended her announcement of the auction by tagging a few more comic legends like Tom King and Tom Taylor, with folks like Tim Seeley, Mitch Gerads, and more also hopping aboard the campaign:

Others, like Felix Comic Art, are holding auctions of their own. Proceeds from sales of artwork from the likes of James Harren (Rumble) and Daniel Warren Johnson (Wonder Woman: Dead Earth) will go to the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund:

Not a comics person? Not to worry. There are plenty of other ways to show support while nerding out. One that would make any genre fan drool is the raffle going on over at Birth.Movies.Death.

This Black Lives Matter fundraiser offers up 15 incredible, genre-based prize bundles — donated by the likes of horror legend Barbara Crampton, no less — that will be awarded to winners of the drawing. The best way to win is to donate, donate, and donate some more.

Each $25-plus donation receipt forwarded to BMD's official email counts as an entry for prizes like signed Fallout 4 merch, a rare Star Wars poster featuring errata ("Once upon a time in a Galaxy far, far away...."), a mask from You're Next, signed Thor: Ragnarok posters, and a bloodstained Shaun of the Dead cricket bat. Any would make for a centerpiece in a fan's comic con merch-laden office — with the added bonus of furthering the cause of social justice.

As of this writing, the event had raised over $25,000:

Let's run the numbers: Yep, that's 1,000 entries. If fans want their donations to have a little extra something-something to satisfy their inner geek, they'll need to get their donations in by June 10.

Those looking to support those with more of a gaming bent have plenty of options. A recent Black Lives Matter tournament put together by the Street Fighter subreddit initially only had the goal of donating $200 to charity; it raised nearly $15,000 from hundreds of gamers:

That specific tournament may have ended, but its success may signal more to come from the fighting game community in the future. Ongoing efforts in the gaming world include streamer Tanya DePass, whose efforts playing Animal Crossing have encouraged her viewers to raise over $200,000 for The Bail Project:

She's now bumped her goal to $250,000. That's a lot of bells for a good cause.

Even gaming organizations like GameSpot have gotten in on the trend with its "Play For All" campaign, which will "raise money for both Direct Relief and Black Lives Matter." Featuring "over 100 hours of live and on-demand programming" during the course of the multi-week event, Play For All is partnering with tons of high-profile game publishers (including 2K Games, Amazon Games, Bethesda, CD Projekt Red, EA, Xbox, Sega, and Square Enix) to help encourage gamers to donate.

Fans looking to make an immediate impact can donate to Black Lives Matter here.